


I Dreamt That You Died

by reversetheuniverse



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2014-04-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 08:11:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1462099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reversetheuniverse/pseuds/reversetheuniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jade just wants to help Dave through his problems, no matter how difficult and recurring they might be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Dreamt That You Died

"What number existential crisis is this?" Jade sips at her coffee politely, back resting casually against the counter. She frequents his house often, stealing his coffee, taking up his sweet time. He doesn’t ever seem to mind that she does it, slowly creeping her way into his life more and more as the days grow innumerable. 

"Shit, I dunno, like number forty-eight? I’ve had too many in the past week to even pretend like I keep track of that shit anymore," he sighs from another room, things shifting around. She turns around and grabs a mug from the cupboard (a ‘#1 Dad’ mug, ironic purely from the fact that he has never been a father nor has he stated intentions of ever becoming one) and fills it up with coffee, withholding cream and sugar. If she had come to know anything about Dave Strider it was that he took his coffee black and strong (except that one phase he went through where he tried drinking it with sixty percent coffee and forty percent cream, a phase he never intends to revisit).

She places her braid neatly on her shoulder before entering the living room where he is loafing, making sure she is visually appealing (she does this all the time, now, regardless of whether her intention is to be flirty or friendly). When she reaches him, she can’t tell if he’s fallen asleep or just staring at the ceiling, eyes hidden behind tinted windows, windows she wants so desperately to reach through, to open up, but for some reason they remain locked tight.

"Here, I got you some coffee, just how you like it." She can feel his energy shift when she says it, and he sits up immediately, taking the mug from her in one hand and patting the couch with the other. She sits down and begins sipping her coffee once again alongside him, waiting for him to make the decision to break the silence. She knows he has these moments a lot, ones that send him through periods of panic-induced dreams, that cause him to not move from his couch for days. She often helps him through them herself by any means possible, just to get him back on his feet again.

Her train of thought is lost by his sudden break in silence.

"So last night I had a dream about death," he says silently. This is a recurring dream of his, dealing with death. He has them about every other week, and normally she would treat it lightly, but something about his tone says it’s a different story.

"Go on," she urges him, listening carefully to what he has to say. His weight shifts towards her in order to face her, and she catches him nervously nibbling at his lower lip for only just a split second.

"Well, it really helped me think about things. About time, about people, certain people in general … " She notices something about him, a tiny shift in energy that sets her off a bit.

"Who died? Was it you, again?" she asks, awaiting his response. He doesn’t make eye contact with her (even with the shades on she can tell) and sips nervously at the coffee. A few sips later he mutters,

"No." 

Her eyebrows scrunch together at the top of her head, trying to dissect his words.

"I mean, that’s a little better, I guess, if it wasn’t you? Sorry, I’m trying to put it as delicately as possible." His mouth twitches a bit as he’s hunched over, as if deep in thought. 

"No, it’s definitely not better. I’d rather it be me than other people I care about!” His voices raises a bit, and she shudders to think that he’s sending an ounce of emotion towards her, breaking his stoic habit.

"Other people you care about?" Jade raises a brow at Dave. He lets out an elongated sigh.

"Yeah, I care about people, Jade." She touches her hand to her chest, feeling the sting of his words.

"I wasn’t saying you didn’t. I just wanted to know who you care about," she says quietly, a moment later. 

"Do we really have to play the, ‘list the people Dave likes so he doesn’t seem like an asshole’ game?" he hisses, his voice full of irritation. She can see his hands tighten around the coffee mug.

"Well, you were the one who brought it up,” she retorts, feeling the negative energy rise between the two. She can’t figure out why he’s suddenly defensive, as if he had something he was hiding from her. She doesn’t like that feeling, either. He’s never been one to hide things from her before and she almost feels betrayed.

"Fine!" He slams his coffee down on the table, letting it rise out of the cup and drop onto the coffee table. She jumps in reaction to it, turning her attention as the platinum blonde-haired man ascends in front of her.

"Look, I don’t know why you’re getting so defensive right now! All I ever want to do is help you and you won’t let me. If you want me to leave, I’ll just leave," she rises, as well, her voice cracking with frustration, close to tears. She turns around to grab her purse and leave his apartment abruptly, but as she begins to walk away she feels herself stopped by a hand, his hand. She jumps slightly with surprise, turning around to face him. His face looks almost apologetic, borderline puppy dog, as if to say, 'Please don't go'. 

"I’m sorry, Jade, I’m not trying to upset you, really. I know you’re just trying to help me and I really do appreciate that. It just happens that when my … when I … I tend to fuck things up a lot," he falters on the last part and she realizes from the clamminess of his hand that he’s still holding onto her, longer than he should. She doesn’t say anything, though, she just lets him hold onto her hand a little while longer. 

"I noticed," she says, giggling a bit. He notices and the corner of his mouth pulls up into that half-smile he so often likes to flash to her, only for a split second. It warms her heart to no extent that he would break his pattern of stoicness for five seconds, just for her. As soon as it is there, it is gone, and so is the grip he has on her hand. She lets out a small breath as her heart drops a little, missing the feeling of both. "So can I ask who was it in your dream that died?" He leans against the edge of the couch and folds his arms.

"Yeah," he hesitates, but she can tell he’s going to be honest this time. "There was my Bro, Rose, John … you," he finally manages to utter the last one and it rings across her ears.

"What do you mean?" she tilts her head to the side with slight confusion.

"I mean that the most important people in my life are Bro, Rose, John, and you.” He doesn’t make eye contact with her, just looks over to the side as she processes what he just said.

"Me? Why me?" She can feel the heat crawl up her cheeks and she curses herself for being so easily embarrassed. He laughs a bit.

"Fuck, Jade, do I really have to spell it out for you?" She shakes her head, looking off to the side as she feels her heart pound faster inside her chest. When she looks back, he’s right in front of her, his glasses now pushed back on the top of his head, letting her get a better view of his eyes. His eyes are a deep crimson color, a color she’s always liked on him. He does his little half-smile and stares at her softly, a side of him she’s never seen before.

"Okay," his hands find their way to her waist, "I kinda like your stupid face. You’re so incredibly smart and adorable and you listen to my problems all the time even though you don’t have to and have to put up with me when I’m irritable and moody and make me nervous." Her chartreuse eyes peer into his trying to figure him out, and he raises his brow. "What?"

"I was just trying to understand who you are and what happened to the real Dave Strider," she answers, and he chuckles. "I don’t really know what to say, either."

"Well, for starters, you could say the same back?" She flashes him a pearly white smile.

"I didn’t think it really needed to be said, to be honest. I figured the fact that I hadn’t run the hell out of here kind of signified it," she shrugs. He shakes his head and rolls his eyes at her, resting his lips upon hers in retaliation. She grips his shoulders and welcomes the kiss gladly, her hands making their way around his neck. His hands find their way to her back and pull her closer to him gently, gripping her tighter. His tongue traces over her lips and then he tugs at her bottom lip a bit, feeling satisfaction when she lets out a small moan. She pushes him back a bit a few seconds later in order to gain her breath again, his hands still resting on her lower back.

"That was nice," she swallows as he grins smugly. He leans forward and rests his forehead upon hers gazing into her eyes. She raises her hands up to cup his face and looks up into his gaze. "You know, you don’t have to worry about me or anyone else dying ever, okay? We’ll always be here for you. I’ll always be here for you.” He nods his head ever so slightly, his lips drawn into a genuine smile this time. 

"Yeah, I know," he mutters softly, but suddenly he is pulling her into another kiss again, and she doesn’t protest one bit.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so if you're reading this, this is not the first fanfic I've ever done. This is, however, my first time posting it to ao3. I've been taking a break from writing them for a while, so this is just me getting back into writing it. I'll probably end up posting some of my other fics on here as well. I do like this one, but I'm tired so I'm not gonna go through and fix it or anything, just posting it for the sake of the special occasion of the fifth year of Homestuck!! (*cue applause*) Please enjoy and if you have any comments (I don't mind anything, really, just as long as it isn't negative) then post them in the comment section below. Enjoy!


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